Can you believe that June is already here and with it, summer is just around the corner? Although summer isn’t official until the 21st, the weather seems fine to me. Our members who are snow birds have returned from their winter hangouts and have re-acclimated to Michigan’s weather. Those of us who aren’t into ice fishing are just happy and glad that outdoor activities have returned
Many, many years ago, I worked at the Uniroyal plant next to Belle Isle. At that time I considered the official start of summer to be the arrival of the first Good Humor truck to the island. I think it was the same guy every year. He’d park at the first turnoff after you crossed the bridge and wait for customers to come to him. My lunch period allowed time to drive over, grab an ice cream bar and take a shortened cruise around the island before heading back to work. Not every lunch period, but a couple of times early in the season. No use going after work, he’d be sold out by then. Toasted Almond Bars were always my favorite and they still are. Good Humor ice cream is still in the stores and maybe a side item from one of the food vans, but the days of a separate truck just for ice cream is long gone. I wonder if the neighborhood ice cream trucks are still around. Has anybody heard one lately?
This summer we have at least three outdoor activities planned; a tour of the Oudolf Garden in June, the Diamond Jack River Cruise in July and the Detroit Zoo in September. We are very fortunate in having the Oudolf Garden, the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory and the Conservatory garden so close together on Belle Isle. We can tour them all without having to find a new parking spot.
On June 16th we will meet at 1:00 pm at the monument in front of the Oudolf Garden. The garden is located at the corner of Picnic Way and Loiter Way, near the Nancy Brown Peace Carillon Tower. At that time, Duncan Campbell will guide us through the garden. Even though we are having a guided tour I would suggest you go to the web page:
https://oudolfgardendetroit.org
There you can find a map of the garden, a list of all of the plants and pictures of items that are in bloom.
Henry Fischer
President